The Alabama Crimson Tide lost a heartbreaker on Saturday night in Bryant-Denny Stadium, falling to Georgia at home 20-17 in their first defeat against the Bulldogs in Tuscaloosa since 2007.

Coming out of the 20-17 defeat, a huge narrative from the Alabama fan base has been — and likely will continue to be in the years of discussion ahead — the officiating. While there were some absolutely horrific calls, and none worse than no pass interference in the end zone against Rico Scott on what proved to be the final drive of the game for the Tide, ultimately Alabama had opportunities it did not take advantage of.

Gunner Stockton absolutely tore the Tide defense apart, finishing 9 of 10 on third down – not to mention allowing more than 200 yards on the ground to a Georgia rushing attack that was down its top two running backs on the roster.

Alabama had an almost incomprehensible six drives that ended in Georgia territory without any points on the board, and not capitalizing on scoring opportunities is not how you win games like this.

When the Dawgs did slip up, which wasn’t often, the Tide didn’t capitalize. And with Stockton so sharp in the biggest moments, Alabama getting the call and scoring wouldn’t have guaranteed anything, since he could have driven Georgia right back down the field.

Things came to a head right at the end when a personal foul on Dijon Lee ultimately gave Georgia a free first down and ended any chance of a victory for the home team. Georgia simply showed a whole lot more composure and competitive maturity than Alabama did on Saturday night.

Ultimately, this is still a very young Crimson Tide team and they very well may learn from this and be better for it in the end. Kalen DeBoer is really just starting to lay the foundation for what could be a very successful run for this program under his leadership.

With that being said, folks blaming the officials for the loss on Saturday night need to look inward and realize that it was Alabama who was outplayed, and ultimately, Alabama who did not give itself a chance to win the game at the end.